1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automotive safety seat belts and more particularly to a safety belt overhead holder for an automotive safety seat belt including a shoulder safety belt in a two-door vehicle body having a rear seat and also having a front seat with a forward foldable seat back coupled to the shoulder safety belt which shoulder safety belt is easily and conveniently placed in an unobstructing position during entering or exiting from the rear seat through one of the two doors of the vehicle body.
2. Prior Art
The State of New York has enacted an amendment to the Vehicle and Traffic Law in relation to requiring operators and passengers in motor vehicles to wear safety seat belts starting on Jan. 1, 1985. The Federal government previously required that all passenger vehicles sold in this country be equipped with safety belts including lap belts and shoulder belts. While seat belts indeed do protect drivers and passengers, the seat belts, particularly the type used in a two-door vehicle, do present some inconveniences and obstacles to an occupant entering or exiting a door port from the rear seat of a two-door vehicle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a seat belt overhead holder which will add convenience to the use of the shoulder belt so that it may be accepted more widely by the public. In the past, attempts have been made to automatically raise a shoulder seat safety belt coupled to the front seat back of a front seat as the seat is moved in a forwardly tipped position. Such prior art devices include the shoulder belt position device as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,657 entitled "SHOULDER BELT POSITIONING ARRANGEMENT" issued to David D. Campbell. Other such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,260 entitled "SEAT BELT CONTROL DEVICE" issued to Cecil A. Collins.
None of the aforesaid prior art patents and no other means are known to the applicant to utilize a safety belt overhead holder for providing a convenient, inexpensive device for placing the shoulder belt in an unobstructing position so that the occupant may enter or exit the vehicle body through a door port thereof to the rear seat without interference of the shoulder belt when it traverses one of the door ports on the two-door vehicle body.